The NCAA Tournament bracket 2025 will begin in Dayton, Ohio with the First Four and will conclude in San Antonio with the Final Four. This will be the fifth time the Alamo City has been the site of the National Championship Game, and Blue Bloods won the previous four. Kentucky, UConn, Kansas and Villanova have all cut down the nets in San Antonio, and all but Villanova are in the 2025 March Madness bracket.
Other Blue Bloods like No. 1 Duke, 7-seed UCLA and No. 11 North Carolina have goals of continuing the Alamo City’s history of prominent programs emerging victorious. Kentucky vs. UCLA could be a Sweet 16 matchup in the 2025 NCAA bracket, provided the No. 3 Wildcats can avoid one of the 2025 March Madness upsets and provided the No. 7 Bruins can author a potential upset of their own over No. 2 Tennessee. Before you make your 2025 NCAA Tournament predictions, see the March Madness bracket picks from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
Last year, SportsLine’s computer simulation nailed massive upsets, including huge wins by No. 11 Oregon over No. 6 South Carolina, No. 11 NC State over No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 10 Colorado over No. 7 Florida, and No. 12 James Madison over No. 5 Wisconsin last year. The model has beaten over 91 percent of all CBS Sports bracket players in four of the past six tournaments.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds since its inception in 2016 and nailed UConn’s championship run last year. It nailed 13 teams in the Sweet 16 and was all over Alabama’s Cinderella run to the Final Four as a 4-seed.
Now, SportsLine’s advanced computer model has simulated the entire 2025 March Madness bracket 10,000 times to come up with the perfect 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket and find out which teams will pull off the biggest upsets. You shouldn’t even think about making a pick without seeing what their model has to say.
Top 2025 March Madness bracket upset picks
One South Region surprise the model has identified: No. 13 Yale beats No. 4 Texas A&M, a team that ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll this year. Both the Ivy League regular season and tournament champs, Yale is 16-1 since the calendar flipped to 2025. Few teams can match its offensive firepower as it ranks in the top 20, nationally, in both field goal percentage and 3-point percentage, and it led the Ivy League in made free throws. A&M has a solid defense but ranks 330th (out of 364 teams) in field goal percentage. Much of the Aggies offense stems from points off offensive rebounds, but Yale happens to rank in the top 25 of the country in both total rebounds and defensive boards. Aggies coach Buzz Williams lost the last time he faced a double-digit seed in March Madness — No. 10 Penn State (2023) — and his sluggish offense could give him another defeat.
Another South Region surprise the model has identified: Creighton beats Louisville in the all-important 8-9 matchup. This is Louisville’s coach Pat Kelsey’s fifth trip to March Madness, and first with U of L, but he’s winless all-time. His average margin of defeat is over 10 points, while Creighton HC, Greg McDermott, has 11 tourney wins, including at least one in each of the last four editions. Creighton has a big advantage in the one thing you can’t teach in basketball: size. The Bluejays start four players at least 6-foot-6, while Louisville has just one starter over 6-foot-6. The tallest player on the court, Ryan Kalkbrenner, stands 7-feet and averages 19.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. See which other 2025 March Madness matchups to target here.
How to make 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket predictions
Who wins every tournament-defining matchup? And which teams will make surprising runs through the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket? With the model’s track record of calling bracket-busting upsets, you’ll want to see which stunners it’s calling this year before locking in any 2025 NCAA bracket picks.
So what’s the optimal NCAA Tournament 2025 bracket? And which NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams will shock college basketball? Visit SportsLine now to see which region features two mammoth upsets in the first round, including one by a team that’s only ever won a single tournament game, and see which 6-seed makes the Sweet 16, all from the model that’s nailed 24 first-round upsets by double-digit seeds.
